Naruto Uzumaki lived on the streets his whole life. Escaping from a government home for orphans, he began to run. That was his sole joy in life until a man named Iruka came in and introduced him to the fragile boy named Sasuke Uchiha. NaruSasu

A/N: Hello! I'm glad you liked the story enough to read up to this chapter! Thank you. Uh, I want to keep this short because I rant too much! This story is almost over! I hope you enjoy this chapter! I hope it doesn't seem too rushed!

Review Replies:

Moopad –=) The reunion shall be very very soon. You can count on that since this is…Bumbumbum THE SECOND TO LAST CHAPTER! I'm trying to make Sasuke's life a little easier…Buahaha or maybe not. Thank you so much!

Sasodei-iz-awesome – Awww, thank you. I'm glad you like it and decided to review! Haha, there's more Neji in this chapter so watch out. Now that I think of it, Neji is out of character in this story but I could care less really (which I realize sounds really horrible but I don't know if you guys care), as long as the main people are at least almost in character. However, feel free to be like: How dare you not care about Neji being out of character! Then I will uh try to fix it as much as I can…Uh, sorry I'm done ranting to you. Thank you!

Voltairey (A.K.A Rika-chan14) – Buahahaha, I feel the same way: I sometimes get a kick out of torturing Sasuke in stories. You don't have to worry about me dropping the story, I promise haha. I only have one more chapter to go and it'll be finished! Thanks! P.S. Bah, sorry about your whole account deal. I know how that feels =P.

Chibisansempei – Man, I feel like such a failure when it comes to updating. I was all hardcore when I saw all these reviews, including this one, so I was all: YEAH I'M GOING TO UPDATE WITHIN A MONTH!...Yeah, I have no excuse for this though. I had a brain fart? Is that sufficient? Haha. Don't get me wrong, I try so hard to update. It's just that sometimes I'll get halfway done with the chapter and then I realize that it's awful. Then I just rewrite it completely and it comes out completely different, and most of the times better. Anyhow! Thanks, I hope you didn't mind the wait!

! I actually have a dedication for this chapter ! The KakaIru moment, even though it's just ittybitty, haha I made that for SHIMAKI-33. Just because. =) Does this count as KakaIru? Haha, probably not but enjoy!

Running From Mars

Chapter 6

Running to Surprise

Sasuke sat outside his high school on a bench, sneaking puffs from his cigarette letting the lukewarm feeling of the smoke fill his body though the cold of winter still managed to seep through his coat and scarf. "Sasuke, are you ready?" A taller teen with long brown hair held out a hand in front of the Uchiha generously. The other boy nodded and gently grasped the offered hand with his own and discarded the fading cigarette.

It was over two years since Naruto left and Sasuke was now halfway through his first year of high school. That wasn't the only change however. The once broody and gloomy boy grew up, not necessarily for the better, into a serious and withdrawn teen. The change was not only mentally, he grew several inches and now two years later he stood at five foot nine.

Snow fell silently from the sky as the couple walked down the street to Sasuke's home. "The final court hearing is next week isn't it?" Neji breathed out, the hand that was grasped in his struggled out of its confinements. Sasuke nodded, his expression not changing from his usual listlessness. The long haired brunet tenderly tightened the scarf around his companion's neck, being aware of his susceptibility to illness during winter. "My birthday is coming up in a couple weeks; do you want to go out to eat?"

Sasuke grunted and nodded his head with a small and wary smile. It wasn't that the Uchiha couldn't talk; as much as he didn't want to deny it his nerves were getting the best of him. With the final court proceedings happening, he was getting restless just spending his days being idle. The next two weeks would decide where he would spend the next couple of years until he turned 18.

His thoughts hardly lingered more than a moment on Naruto anymore. He gave up on the promise once made; he had already decided that false hope was of no comfort to him. His old friend obviously moved on and finally became a student of a nice school and was made a star track athlete. Instead his loneliness of two years was muffled under the Hyuuga's rough yet tender demeanor. Their relationship bloomed a couple months after Suigetsu's party after the normal flow of letters sent by Naruto stopped.

The two stopped in front of a large brick house. In the front yard a big white dog stood with its bushy tail spastically swinging back and forth from excitement. Sasuke leaned over the dog, running his hands through the soft yet damp fur.

"Akamaru! Come boy!" A teenage boy with spiked brown hair wearing baggy blue jeans and a casual white t-shirt yelled out the door. It took him a moment to recognize the faces of the two. Immediately his face split into a grin, "Hey, Sasuke, and Neji. You guys are just in time for dinner."

Sasuke looked towards Neji, almost pleadingly. Neji sighed and nodded a bit, "Alright, if I'm not intruding I'll stay. Just let me call my house before I stay too long, Kiba." The couple proceeded through the door. They were both happily greeted by a much more feminine version of Kiba.

"Welcome home, Sasuke. It's good to see you again, Neji. I made spaghetti and garlic bread for dinner tonight, I hope you don't mind." Hana greeted with an outgoing smile. The two sent back polite greetings then moved to Sasuke's room to set down their school stuff and call Neji's household. Sasuke sprawled on the bed while Neji used the home phone. This had been his home for the past year, the Inuzuka household was fair and nice but it was also strange and foreign.

They removed him from his home with Orochimaru yet refused to send him to anyone who would be subjected to a court hearing, which included Kakashi. The only family willing to take in the trouble-bringer was the Inuzukas. It was then where Kiba actually treated him like a human being.

Neji hung up the phone and looked to the bed where Sasuke was on. The raven's eyes were closed, his face tensed into a deep frown of concentration. The Hyuuga found himself staring, noting the way the teen's limbs were splayed every which way yet he still didn't seem uncomfortable. He sat on the edge of the bed carefully and swept the hair off of the other's face. "We should go downstairs for supper, Sasuke," He tried not to sound too demanding as to not receive a glare from Sasuke.

The dinner was very well cooked, which didn't really surprise anyone since Hana was usually a good cook. "So, Sasuke, why were you so late getting home tonight?" Tsune, Kiba and Hana's mother, asked curiously.

"Neji had a student council meeting, and I didn't really have anything to do so I waited there for him," Sasuke replied in his usual quiet tone. It would be expected that someone like Sasuke could create an awkward atmosphere over dinner, but yet Hana and Kiba created so much chatter and banter that it made up for any of the awkwardness.

After dinner Neji gathered his things and was led to the door by Sasuke. "I'll see you tomorrow, then?" Neji asked hopefully. Sasuke just nodded his dark smoldering eyes boring holes into the other teens. "Goodbye, Sasuke." With that, Neji swept the shorter teen into his arms gently and buried his face in the dark black hair. The raven flinched at the sudden contact, not returning the embrace yet not pulling away either. A moment later the Hyuuga was gone, leaving Sasuke staring out of the doorway utterly lost in his thoughts.

It was a beautiful Saturday morning and Kakashi sat at a kitchen table, a hot cup of coffee placed in front of him. Iruka came over and placed a plate of pancakes in front of him before returning to his own seat. "Hey, Kakashi, I wonder if we should tell Sasuke about Naruto…" Iruka mumbled gently, his finger tracing the edge of his own mug idly.

"Yeah, I wondered that too. I don't want to ruin him being content at the moment, though." Kakashi sighed and looked up at the clean white ceiling. Iruka hummed to himself quietly, gazing over at his companion curiously wondering what was running through his mind.

Iruka glared and hit him over the head harshly, "No! I know what you're going to say and it's going to be perverted! Forget that I asked and eat your pancakes," He sighed and looked away. Their conversation was interrupted by a knock on the door. "Jiraiya?!" Iruka yelled in surprise as he opened the door.

"Hey, Sasuke what movie do you want to watch?" Neji asked as they walked towards the movie complex, hand in hand. It was a Saturday and one of the first times Neji had no invitational for indoor track so they decided, more like Sasuke decided, that they would go see a new movie. Neji was surprised that Sasuke would let them be seen holding hands, he usually avoided it because of all the bewildered glances they received.

Sasuke shrugged his shoulders, "It doesn't matter. How about that new horror movie?"

"Okay, if you're sure you won't get too scared." This comment only received a death glare from the raven. Neji laughed softly, but the glare didn't let up. "Oh please, Sasuke. You're such a little princess." The Hyuuga boy swiftly grabbed the hanging end of Sasuke's scarf before pulling him closer to be only a breath's width apart. Sasuke's eyes narrowed suspiciously up at him.

Before anything else could happen, a hand tapped Sasuke on the shoulder. The teen jumped and turned around, nearly choking himself since Neji still didn't let go of his scarf. There was a scream, but Sasuke couldn't tell if it was him or the boy in front of him, and then he felt a fist collide with his face. "You bastard! I worked so hard for you! And this is how you repaid me?!" Sasuke fell over which was in only a matter of seconds, but it seemed like forever to him. He could only hear sobbing and see the face of the teen he spent a year and a half brooding over.

Naruto was actually here. After over two years of waiting, he actually got to see Naruto Uzumaki, but as he looked up through watery eyes, he wasn't seeing the grinning hyperactive thirteen year old boy he used to read books to. He was looking up at a tearful and angry fifteen year old. Sure, he was recognizable by his looks, though he was taller (almost 6 feet), he still had his tanned skin that accented his bright blond hair and the piercing blue eyes.

Naruto grabbed Sasuke by his collar, his rage flashing out of control. He couldn't tell if he felt more anger or hurt, all he could see was Sasuke with Neji flashing through his mind. After all those years of hard work, just to come back to see Sasuke, and he lost him to the very boy who tore the Uchiha apart day after day in middle school.

When Naruto was positive if something didn't happen or if Sasuke wouldn't say anything soon, he was sure to lose it and hit him again, Neji stepped in and grabbed his wrist in a death grip. "Let go or you will regret it." A little reluctantly he let go of the other's shirt collar, his anger slowly ebbing away. He looked remorsefully at the Uchiha who only looked away and stood up. Without a word, Sasuke tenderly rubbed his swelling cheek and started to walk off in the opposite direction with Neji following.

Unsure of where to go since he suddenly had no reason to be there. After a few minutes of just idling around, he decided to start walking to Iruka's house. He was finally in the neighborhood when a girl's voice started yelling his name. When he found the owner of the loud voice, it was a tall girl dressed in loose jeans and a t-shirt with short pink hair. "Hey, Naruto! You're back!" Sakura shouted.

Happy to see a familiar face, Naruto walked over to her and smiled weakly. "Hey, how've you been Sakura?"

"Good. Why don't you come in for a little? We can catch up!" Sakura offered. Not sure of what else he should do, Naruto allowed himself to be led into the living room of the Harunos. "Did you see Sasuke yet? I'm sure he'll be super excited to see you, he's waited for like…ever, y'know?"

Naruto scratched the back of his head nervously, "Uh, yeah…It didn't go very well, though." Sakura just looked at him questioningly; he sighed and proceeded to retell the story. "I can't believe he's with him…What?" The pink haired girl was staring at him as if he was a complete stranger.

She shook her head and smiled calmly, "Oh, it's nothing. Just, you've changed a whole lot, Naruto. I don't know, maybe it's because you're not as…uh ignorant as you used to be." She laughed at the indignant expression placed on the boy's face. "But, really, I think Sasuke really missed you."

Naruto snorted and rolled his eyes, "Yeah, well…I seriously doubt that. I waited so long and now he's with that guy. I knew Sasuke could be an ass sometimes but-"

"Naruto! You've both waited for each other long enough, but honestly how easy for him do you think it is? You stopped writing to him and then it seemed like your existence stopped completely..." Sakura interrupted, her voice getting sharper.

The anger from once before started seeping into Naruto again, he found himself clenching his fists. "So? I trusted him. Why couldn't he trust me back? It's not my fault I was working so hard every single day that I could hardly find the time to even eat! Now he's with someone else! What am I back here for then?!" The last words were choked, tears flowing down his face.

There was a moment of silence in the room before Sakura firmly gripped the teenage boy's shoulders and forced him to look up at her. "Naruto, how easy do you think it is to find a way to trust someone after your own brother murdered your family? Before you go judging someone's actions, think about what they could have been through."

Naruto buried his face into his hands, "I know…I know that, but what about me? He may not need me, but I need him." Sakura sighed heftily, she let go of her grip and just sat down next to him.

"How old do you think we are?" Sakura smiled gently and leaned some of weight on her friend, "We're only around fifteen years old, Naruto. We're not evenhalfway through our potential lifespan. People these days spend too much of their lives hung up over other people. I'm tired of people moping over love when they could be living their lives happily. You might think it's hard, but it's not. Being heartbroken won't kill you so it's no use brooding over it. If Sasuke doesn't want you back, life goes on. Besides, because of him you've learned so much. If he's happy with Neji, let him be. However, I think you'll see that he's been secretly waiting for you for the past two years."

Naruto wiped his leftover tears on his sleeve, feeling a lot lighter after the lecture. He laughed quietly and gently punched his friend, "Thanks…mom."

Sasuke walked into the Inuzuka household, strangely enough there was nobody home. The hairs on the back of his neck stood stiff as if telling him to leave the house. Curiously, he quietly walked the way upstairs to his room. When he opened the door, he realized that the house had visitors. "Nice to see you again, Sasuke." A male voice called out from the corner of his dully lit room. "I hope you remember us."

There were three boys and a girl. The one boy who sat on his bed casually had silver hair down to his chin, there was a boy twice the size of all of the occupants of the room with short spiked reddish hair who had to stand looming over in a corner, and the last boy stood leaning against the wall facing his bed. The girl was lounging on his computer chair her dark pink hair passing her mid back. All four of them wore expensive suits.

"What are you guys doing here?" Sasuke asked roughly, his cheek sore and starting to swell form the hit he took earlier on.

"We're here to make a deal with you."

A/N: I hope you liked it! Bumbumbummm, the Sound Four has entered the story, my least favorite people in Naruto well one of them. I think this chapter was the hardest. I kept adding like pointless stuff to it, and then I'd get writers block!

A special thanks to all my reviewers! I appreciate anyone's comments/criticisms/suggestions and I'll reply to all of them! If I forgot to reply and you want one, let me know. But I think I replied to everyone's….

Thanks!

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